


Seen and Heard

by Wishful86



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Gen, Help, Near Future, References to Child Abuse, Support, spoilery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 15:18:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6615574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wishful86/pseuds/Wishful86
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liv is worried about Aaron and decides she needs to speak to Robert. Chas joins in the conversation. Liv realises what she can do to help her brother.  </p><p>(I have used upcoming spoilers as inspiration) </p><p>Hope you enjoy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seen and Heard

Liv was supposed to have been hanging out with Gabby but Gabby had got annoyed with her mood and left. Liv didn’t have it in her to care about Gabby right now though. She couldn’t get her mind off what she had seen and heard that morning. She wasn’t supposed to have seen and heard. A part of her wished she hadn’t but then she couldn’t help also thinking that perhaps she should have known about things earlier. She should have realised. 

She wandered into the pub but stopped at the door when she saw Robert drinking alone at the bar. Glancing around she couldn’t see her brother anywhere near; this was her chance. She wasn’t quite sure whether going to Robert would work; they hadn’t exactly seen eye-to-eye since she had arrived but even she couldn’t deny that he was there for Aaron. He sometimes looked at her brother like he was the world. Liv almost liked him in those moments. 

She burrowed her hands in her pockets and made determined strides towards him.

“Aaron’s not here right now,” Robert told her as he saw her approach.

“I know. It’s you I want to talk to,” Liv stated firmly.

Robert squinted at her, “Tell me you haven’t done anything-“

“I just need to talk to you,” Liv cut in levelling a glare at the blonde man, “please.”

Robert frowned, “You said ‘please’?”

Liv rolled her eyes and sighed, “Robert…”

“Ok, ok, let’s go through to the back.” He downed the last of his pint and led the way into the back room.

…

Liv took a seat at the kitchen table and watched as Robert lent on a chair. She knew he was waiting for her to speak but suddenly she felt like there weren’t the right words. Or that she could get into trouble or…

“Liv, what is going on?” Robert had sat down and was looking at her with furrowed brows. 

“I…er…I forgot my jacket this morning. So I came back to get it and I…I saw Aaron. Well, you, Aaron and Chas. And I heard-“ Liv faltered but it had dawned on Robert what she meant,

“You heard all the stuff about Gordon,” Robert shook his head.

Liv nodded and bit her lip, “Aaron isn’t ok, is he?”

Robert studied her for a moment. He thought about saying ‘Aaron will be ok’ and leaving it at that but thinking back on the morning, he knew that wouldn’t be enough. Gordon’s letter had hit Aaron hard and he had tried to hide it but this time both Robert and Chas had been ready. They wouldn’t let it drop until Aaron had let his feelings out. Better he breakdown on them in the living room then take it all out on himself somewhere in private. It didn’t however mean those feelings would be easy to hear or deal with and Robert knew that Chas had felt just as hopeless as he had as Aaron once again sobbed in their arms. And now he knew that Liv had witnessed it all. He ran a tired hand down his face,

“Liv, Aaron has been through a lot,” Robert started.

Liv sighed, “I know that, ok? I know what Gordon…I don’t think I realised…I should have…”

Robert listened to the usually confident teen stumble over her words and was struck by young she suddenly looked, “It’s ok, Liv. It’s not easy to understand. What happened to Aaron…” he trailed off and almost forgot he was talking to someone, “I find it hard to understand. We shouldn’t need to understand- it should never have happened.”

“But it did,” Liv said angrily with tears pricking at her eyes, “I hate him. I hate Gordon.”

“You’ll get no argument from me,” Robert sneered.

“I helped him though,” Liv’s voice was small, “I doubted Aaron and-“

“Liv, you came through in the end,” Robert cut in subconsciously moving closer to the crying girl before him, “You were brilliant in court.”

Liv wiped at her eyes, “I just wanted a dad, you know?”

Robert’s heart broke a little at the teens confession, “I do know,” Robert whispered his admission, “More than you realise.”

Liv didn’t hear him as she stared ahead, “I’ve never seen anyone like that before.”

Robert waited until she clarified.

“I’ve never seen anyone like Aaron this morning. Not even my mum,” Liv told him, “And she’s had a few meltdowns.”

They both started a little as the door from the pub opened. Robert sat back and Liv rubbed at her eyes; they both thought it could be Aaron but it wasn’t.

“Am I interrupting something?” Chas asked as she halted upon seeing them. Robert couldn’t blame the suspicious look she was sending in their direction. Until this point, he and Liv had done nothing but snipe at each other. 

“Liv accidently overheard us this morning,” Robert explained.

Chas’s eyebrows shot up, “Oh.”

“I’m worried about Aaron,” Liv admitted.

“Oh love,” Chas said as she moved closer and sat down, “You shouldn’t have seen that.”

“Yeah, but I did. And I want to help.”

Chas glanced at Robert who shrugged. She took a breath, “Look, Liv, we’re the adults here ok? You let us worry about Aaron and you worry about being a teenager.” She bit her lip before continuing, “Except, perhaps, you could think about being a little less extreme.”

“Pfft. Aaron was worse than me,” Liv argued showing signs of her usual attitude.

Chas lowered her head for a second, “Liv, Aaron had to deal with extreme before he even hit his teenage years. And I am not saying that you’ve had it easy, love, ok? But, you know, I didn’t have the best childhood and neither did Robert,” she glanced at the young man across the table who just nodded at her to continue, “but we’ll both tell you that no amount of nicking stuff or, or skipping school will make things better.”

“Aaron would probably tell you the same, if he had his head straight,” Robert agreed sending Chas a small smile.

“You keep turning up with the police and it’s bound to make him worry,” Chas explained. 

“It is rather unnecessary trouble you find yourself in, Liv,” Robert added, “It is stress that no one needs.”

Liv picked at her sleeve, tears threatening to fall again, “Yeah…sorry.”

Chas touched her arm gently, “All we’re asking, kid, is that you think about what you get up to. That’s how you can help.”

“You may actually find that you like school, you know, if you actually go,” Robert remarked earning himself a light snort from Liv that relieved some of the tension.

There was a comfortable moment of silence that followed but Liv broke it, “How old was Aaron when my…when Gordon…?

Chas froze and looked towards Robert. It was a question neither of them expected. Robert cleared his throat, 

“No-one’s told you-”

“I know what Gordon did. That’s it.”

Robert sighed. Chas was staring at a point in the distance but she spoke, “The first time he was eight.”

“Mum took me to Disneyland when I was eight. She felt bad for moving us,” Liv stated evenly. Robert watched as Chas closed her eyes in an attempt to fight off tears. He was about to interrupt Liv to try and bring the conversation to a close but Liv carried on with an upsetting whisper, “why didn’t my mum help Aaron?”

Chas blew out a puff of air and Robert marvelled at the woman’s strength as she regained her composure and clasped Liv’s hands together in hers, “Your mum has been through a lot too, ok? And she came through for Aaron in the end. That’s what counts.”

“I want to help,” Liv repeated again looking between Chas and Robert, “So I’ll go to school and stuff but, but you are going to make sure Aaron is ok, right?”

Chas squeezed her hands and looked warmly at her, “You bet.”

“We’ll get through this together,” Robert told her and he couldn’t help the flood of warmth that seeped through him as there was no argument about his use of the word ‘we’. Instead he got a gentle touch of his forearm from Chas and half a smile from Liv. 

“I’m glad I stayed here,” Liv told them, “Aaron’s great but you aren’t half bad either.”

“Not half bad, eh?” Robert smirked.

“I’d take it if I were you,” Chas snorted but there was light in her eyes, “I, however, would like to think I was great too?” 

Liv laughed, “Sorry, that’s just Aaron. For now. Where is he anyway?”

“Marlon was skyping Paddy,” Robert said sitting back in his chair, “He’s enlisted Aaron’s support on the Pierce problem.” He registered Chas’s frown, “Don’t worry- I think it’s actually quite a good distraction for him.”

“Yeah…” Chas hummed, “He’s reconnecting with Paddy again too. That’s good.”

“Someone needs to explain to me who Paddy is,” Liv said with a frown, “Oh and Pierce is weird.”

Robert blinked, “How would you know?”

“He was taking the bins out while me and Gabby were at the bus stop, wearing what looked like Rhona’s dressing gown. He almost flashed us.”

Chas shook her head, “What is Rhona playing at?”

“This village is weird,” Liv snorted, “Gabby said that Laurel used to be married to Marlon before she remarried her dad and that Marlon was with Rhona before she left him for Paddy but they still had a kid together and April is Marlon’s daughter from someone who died because she got involved with Ross who apparently stole Laurel’s car-“

“Perhaps Gabby should write a book,” Chas interrupted, rolling her eyes.

“Can I… can I tell Gabby about Aaron?” Liv asked but she saw how Chas and Robert’s eyes both widened, “Not any detail or anything too private. But she tells me stuff about her dad. You know, how he’s ill and that.”

“She is your friend, Liv,” Chas’s eyes softened, “It’s nice if you can share and listen to each other but Aaron hates gossip so…”

“Just be careful, yeah?” Robert finished for Chas. He wasn’t totally convinced but knew he couldn’t stop it or perhaps shouldn’t stop it; sharing worries wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

“I will.” Liv nodded and pushed her hair behind her ears, “And thanks. For this.”

“Anytime, Liv,” Chas told her, “We’re here for you.”

“And we’re all here for Aaron,” Liv smiled, feeling much better about what she had seen and heard that morning and what she could do to help. They would get through it together. Her new family. 

…


End file.
